महाबलान् अतिरथान् वीरान् समरशोभिनः ॥
बाह्यं मृत्युभयं कृत्वा तावकाः पाण्डवान् ययुः ॥
सादिनः सादिनो ऽभ्यघ्नंस् तथैव रथिनो रथान् ॥
आसीच् छक्त्यसिसंपातो युद्धम् आसीत् परश्वधैः ॥
निकृष्टम् असियुद्धं च बभूव कटुकोदयम् ॥
कुञ्जराणां च संघातैर् युद्धम् आसीत् सुदारुणम् ॥
mahābalān atirathān vīrān samaraśobhinaḥ ||
bāhyaṃ mṛtyubhayaṃ kṛtvā tāvakāḥ pāṇḍavān yayuḥ ||
sādinaḥ sādino 'bhyaghnaṃs tathaiva rathino rathān ||
āsīc chaktyasisaṃpāto yuddham āsīt paraśvadhaiḥ ||
nikṛṣṭam asiyuddhaṃ ca babhūva kaṭukodayam ||
kuñjarāṇāṃ ca saṃghātair yuddham āsīt sudāruṇam ||
Your warriors, casting aside all fear of death, advanced upon the Pandavas — mighty super-warriors, heroes shining in battle. Horsemen struck horsemen, likewise chariot-fighters struck chariots; there was a clash of spears and swords, a fight with axes went on; at close quarters, a sword-fight went on with a bitter outcome; and a most dreadful fight of clashing elephants went on.
d33e60463bda · प्रकाशित 19 जुल॰ 2026, 3:22:09 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The battle breaks down into like against like: horseman against horseman, chariot against chariot, elephant against elephant. War thus reveals itself as the mutual destruction of equals, in which each kind of strength is devoured by its own kind. And again the key phrase — "casting aside fear of death": only so do warriors go to certain slaughter. The verse teaches that war at its core is a collision of like with like, in which both sides perish indiscriminately; that such combat requires casting off the fear of death, for otherwise one cannot stand; but also that this very necessity of shedding the fear of death lays bare the unnaturalness of war, which demands that a man renounce life's first command — the will to live.